"The Matriarch"

The original of this piece is quite large. I wanted to give the elephant a strong presence, so I focused in on a small portion of the whole animal. I feel greater impact was added by leaving much of the animal "outside" the Image.

Elephant skin varies greatly in texture so when doing this piece I treated the skin like a landscape. This was my first oil pastel painting. I very much enjoy working in this new medium and I foresee great possibilities.